Starts With Goodbye
by SASandJRtheOver-Editors
Summary: Sometimes, It's hard to let go, but it all starts with goodbye.


Hermione slowly seated herself on her doorstep, listening to Ron speak about the Chudley Cannons, again. She gave the affirmative when he asked her if she was still listening.

"Yes, Ron, I'm still here." He continued speaking, and her heart felt heavy with the knowledge of what she was about to do to him. "Ron, this isn't working out." He was silent for a minute, before he started yelling.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'IT'S NOT WORKING OUT?' YOU ARE MY GIRLFRIEND, HERMIONE, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU DON'T BREAK UP WITH ME." She was silent after his outburst.

"Ron, you don't love me the way I need to be loved. And you are never listening to me. That is not how a relationship works. Goodbye, Ron."

She closed her cell phone and let it drop into her lap. Why did she have to do that? Ron had been one of her best friends since first year, and her only true boyfriend.

She sighed. It was the right thing to do, though. Neither of them had been truly happy with each other. Ron limited her intelligence, and used her for when he needed something written well, and for his reputation.

He didn't see any problem with that, of course. No matter what he said, what his family said, she'd found letters saying she was a mudblood with more than usual intelligence. His family may not be prejudice, but Ron was.

Still, she couldn't remember many times without Harry and him beside her. She really did love Ron, but it was more of a sisterly fondness towards him. Not love.

Ron had been besides her for close to eight years now, and she felt a piece of her heart break for the boy she'd known, the one who liked who Hermione was, not what he could get from her.

But she was in love with Harry, always had been, and Harry had never noticed her. Now, he'd never indicated that he liked her back in any way other than that of a friend, but Ron didn't deserve her left-over love, and she didn't deserve his contempt for her blood.

She made the choice to leave him and hoped that, maybe one day, someone could come along and pick up the vestiges of her broken heart.

She felt a pain in her chest as she realized she would probably be alone for a long time.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she slowly picked herself up and went into her house, sealing the floo so Ron couldn't come in. She didn't want to know what he'd do in his rage. Then she cast protection and concealment charms, 'just like in the old days' she remembered, so no one could come in without explicit permission.

She smiled sadly at the photo of her and Ron on either side of Harry, hugging tightly. She loved the boys so much, and she'd now lost them both. It was why she'd chosen Ron. He would always be friends with Harry's, so she would always be a part of Harry's life.

Now, she'd finally woken up, and realized that she couldn't do it, couldn't resign herself to becoming Ron's wife, and staying miserable, so she could see the man she loved, in the arms of another woman.

Now the tears were coming down is streams. She cried hard, mourning the life she thought she would have had. It wasn't perfect, but it had seemed her only future for so long.

She thought about Harry's love of flying, and his many falls. That's how she felt now: like she had fallen off a broom and was plunging towards inevitable death.

She picked up her newest copy of Hogwarts: A History and held it close. It was a present from Harry. She thought about all the advancedments her favorite book had made. Her future depended on moving forward, not dwelling on the past mistakes she'd made.

She kissed the cover of the book, and set it sown. She was moving on. It hurt, but she was saying goodbye to the past.

She knew one day, she'd fall in love with the right man, someone to pick up all the pieces that made up Hermione, and put her back together.

She might not know him at the moment, and or she might be close to him. She just knew she to keep looking ahead.

She looked wistfully at the photo.

"Oh Harry."

She knew she would have to give up thoughts of ever being with him, if she wanted to move on. Somehow, that was the hardest.

She loved him, and he saw her as a friend, or maybe a sister. She knew it would never be more, because he was with Ginny, and if he wasn't, then he was the most eligible bachelor for hundreds of girls much prettier than her.

She sighed and put the frame down so she couldn't see it anymore. She didn't feel a stab in her heart anymore.

The stab was her hurt every time she thought about Harry being with Ginny.

She stood up and moved to her room.

She was ready to try to live again; to forge herself a new future.

She made her way to her room, and pulled down a photo she'd made from a Pensieve memory. It was the only time she'd tried to kiss Harry. They never made it to the actual kiss. Ron had interrupted them.

She kissed the photo quietly. "Goodbye, Harry."


End file.
